(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a terminal unit, such as a POS (Point-of-Sale) terminal unit, and more particularly to a terminal unit in which commodity information input therein can be converted into a bar code and vice versa.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in stores, in order to register information (including names, identification codes, unit prices, quantity and the like) on commodities bought by customers, POS (Point-of-Sales) terminal units have been used. The POS terminal units print the information on receipt papers and journal papers and transmit the information to a host computer. The information processed by the POS terminal units is referred to as transaction information. The transaction information includes commodity information and other information regarding the transaction. The commodity information may include a commodity name, an identification code of a commodity, a unit price of a commodity, a number of commodities of each kind and consumption tax. Other information may include a total price, a date, a name of an operator of a POS terminal unit, a commodity dealing department and an identification number of a POS terminal unit.
If incorrect commodity information (e.g. the unit price of a commodity or the quantity of a commodity) is registered by a POS terminal unit by mistake so that a receipt paper on which the incorrect commodity information has been printed is given to a customer, the registered incorrect commodity information must be corrected. In this case, in order to correct the incorrect commodity information which has been registered, an operator manually inputs, with reference to the transaction information on the receipt paper, the incorrect commodity information into the POS terminal unit by using a keyboard.
In a host computer coupled to a plurality of POS terminal units, transaction data items including information about commodities transmitted from the POS terminal units are aggregated. In this system formed of the POS terminal units and the host computer, if a trouble occurs in the host computer, the above transaction data items can not be aggregated in the host computer. In this case, transaction data items printed on journal papers in the respective POS terminal units are used as backup data. That is, the transaction data items are manually input, with reference to the journal papers, into the POS terminal units.
In the conventional POS terminal unit, as has been described above, to correct registered information and to aggregate transaction data items in place of the host computer, transaction data items must be manually input with reference to receipt papers or journal papers. Thus, input errors may easily occur.
In addition, for example, the following service for customers has been proposed.
In the host computer, transaction information supplied from the POS terminal units is aggregated for each customer having a membership card. When an aggregate request is input to a POS terminal unit along with a membership number identifying a customer, transaction information which has been aggregated for the customer is transmitted from the host computer to the POS terminal unit. The aggregated transaction information for the customer is printed by the POS terminal unit and the print is given to the customer. The customer can use the print as accounts for himself (herself). This service is referred to as an accounts supply service.
However, to provide this accounts supply service, the aggregated transaction information for each customer must be usually stored in a storage unit of the host computer. In addition, a customer not having a membership card can not obtain the accounts supply service.